At just 25 years old, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones (17-1 MMA, 11-1 UFC) still considers himself a student of mixed martial arts, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t comfortable as a teacher, too.

Jones said his stint as coach on “The Ultimate Fighter 17,” which debuts Jan. 22 on FX, didn’t force him to step too far outside of his comfort zone, even at such a young age.

“I embrace the role,” Jones told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I definitely have become a leader in my own team at Jackson’s MMA. It’s something that has been slowly coming upon me, and I feel it. So you embrace it. You embrace the idea of being the light to people and really trying to impact someone’s life in a positive way.”

Jones coaches opposite Chael Sonnen (27-12-1 MMA, 6-5 UFC) on the upcoming 17th season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” and the two superstar coaches are expected to bring some much-needed attention to a series that struggled to excite in the recently-aired “TUF 16.” But in addition to their starring roles, both fighters are expected to take young prospects under their wings as a group of 28 middleweights bid to become “the next ultimate fighter.”

Jones believes he was up to the task during filming.

“I’m definitely excited to show America that age is just a number, and wisdom outweighs age any day,” Jones said. “I guess the biggest thing that I did was demand respect through legitimacy between everything I said to the guys and what I expected out of the guys to the vibe I gave off to these guys. I was definitely there to be those guys’ mentor, friend and supporter. Obviously it’s about those guys and not me, but I want to be a role model, too, despite the age difference. I want to lead by example and show these guys what has made me me and give them a piece of that.”

The 28 cast members have yet to be revealed for the show, and Jones, like everyone involved in the show, isn’t free to talk about the proceedings until after they’ve aired. However, after Sonnen made it clear he could easily out-coach his younger opponent, Jones insists things aren’t necessarily quite that simple.

“I need to show America that I’m a champion,” Jones said. “I’m a champion coach. I’m a guy who is not going to be stingy with his success. I’m going to try and motivate others with his success and share his success and ultimately bring up the whole sport of mixed martial arts, whether it’s an individual athlete or an ideal or anything. My job is to pay it forward.

“I look at this way, and it’s very simple: Somebody put me on to this world of mixed martial arts, and I owe a great deal to that person. the only way I can truly ever say thank you in my eyes is to put someone else on it. So when I’m in the locker room, I look at all of my guys as, ‘Which one of you guys is going to be the next guy? Which one of you guys can I bless by giving you my best?’ That’s the way I feel about the whole situation. I want to put someone else up. I want to change someone else’s life. I want to give back to the sport and be a contributor to one of the next great fighters.”

Throughout the history of “TUF,” past coaches have sometimes taken vastly different approaches to their fighters. Some have jumped in the trenches with their teams while others have preferred to coach from afar, allowing their appointed assistants to handle the dirty work. Where Jones falls in that spectrum remains to be seen, but he teased that helping his fighters with their mental strength was chief among his priorities.

“I think this whole championship is a matter of coaching them mentally,” Jones said. “These guys should already be in shape before they got here. I want to see which guys want to consider themselves a leader and which guy is going to take that inferior role. The whole journey is mental. … The whole experience, I consider the tournament to be something like a boot camp, an initiation. So it’s more about pushing them to the limit mentally to see if they’re really ready to be a champion.”

Jones and Sonnen will fight in April following the conclusion of the “TUF 17″ season’s run on FX. A victory in the fight would tie “Bones” with Tito Ortiz for the most consecutive defenses of the light-heavyweight belt in UFC history, and he’s looked dominant in each of those appearances. Public opinion on him seems to sway from time to time, but “TUF 17″ could provide an opportunity for the masses to learn more about a champion who has already achieved greatness and could very well be on his way to becoming a legendary figure in the sport.

Jones admits he’s entering 2013 with high hopes.

“I just really want it all,” Jones said. “I want to be the best coach in ‘TUF.’ I want to completely conquer and leave my mark on this sport. So when people ask me some of my goals, I can go on and on. I just really want to accomplish everything.”

It’s that internal fire that drives Jones on a daily basis to continue to improve – a lesson he hopes to impart to his team. Even as wealth and fame have come along with victory, Jones said it’s not hard to continue his efforts to better himself.

“I don’t think it’s tough to keep the fire,” Jones said. “It’s very simple. When the time comes down, when push comes to shove, it’s right back down to the simplicity of ‘Do you want it, or don’t you?’ When you keep things that simple, you take the necessary steps when it’s that time. I don’t think I’ll ever have an issue with passion because of my pride.”

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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